Guardian Angel
by Lady Genjutsu
Summary: Auron x Rikku. My attempt at an original Aurikku that's not depressing. Read and Review please!


Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I do not own Square. I do not own Final Fantasy. I do not own Rikku, Yuna, Cid, or *sigh* Auron... Although he owns me. *laughs* Just kiddn'.  
  
A/N: This is NOT a direct sequel to "Our Story", although I did write it so it would coincide with it. You can still read this without reading O.S. first though, so don't worry.  
  
Guardian Angel  
  
Yuna gracefully spun her staff, her eloquent dance ending the suffering of the aeons and the fayth, as they burst into pyreflies, their sending to the farplane complete.  
  
She continued, turning back towards us, her guardians, as we watched her with pride. As she did however, she stopped and a soft gasp of surprise escaped her lips.  
  
We turned, following her shocked glance. There stood Auron, his form becoming transparent, pyreflies beginning to emerge from his stoic form.  
  
My eyes widened. So this was it. Auron too, was unsent... and now he must leave as well. A lump formed in my throat as I realized this. I knew as well as anyone that if anyone deserved the last ten years of his life was devoted to looking after others and keeping promises. Guarding Braska, caring for Tidus, and having recently guarding Yuna, everything Auron did was selfless. I had realized this only recently, as I watched the Jecht spheres revealing Auron's past. I him for this, but the words never found their way out... And now it was too late.  
  
"Don't stop." Auron said simply. Poor man, he must have been waiting for this for so long...  
  
"But I-" Yuna stuttered, still unable to comprehend what was happening.  
  
"It's alright." Auron assured. His voice was calm, but in that wildly intense eye of his, I could see an irrepressible relief. "It has been... Long enough."  
  
No one said a word as he walked slowly through our midst, regarding each one of us with a silent farewell.  
  
When his eye locked with mine however, his expression changed. In that moment, I saw all the times I'd had with him, from the first time he spoke to me, with that cold resolve, to all the times he'd saved my life in battle. Although he had tried desperately to keep himself distant from us, I had still developed a close and discreet bond with him; An unspoken relationship that was expressed only in glances.  
  
"Don't... Don't leave me..." I choked out finally, my whisper scarcely audible.  
  
He closed his eye then continued foreword, but as he was passing me, he stopped briefly. "I will always be with you..." He breathed, "Don't ever forget that..."  
  
It was the first and only time we'd spoken as we had felt. The only time our complex feelings for each other had been expressed verbally.  
  
He proceeded to the centre of the platform in which we were all standing, and swung his sword over his shoulder.  
  
"This is your world now." The words echoed with such finality, that no one uttered a word when his form collapsed into countless pyreflies, soaring upwards while emitting their eerie, supernatural sound.  
  
Yuna continued her sending, and through all the chaos of the fall of sin, no one aw me as I collapsed to my knees, sobbing with unsurpassable grief.  
  
******  
  
"Rikku! Let's go already! We reach NeoHome in less than an hour!" M father ranted over the speaker from the bridge of the airship.  
  
"One sec pops!" I called. As frigid as it was on the deck of the airship, I couldn't bring myself to leave just yet. The sun was sinking behind the horizon, streaking the sky orange and purple, and tinting the clouds with its fiery hue.  
  
The wind whipped about my face, and I let out a contented sigh. How pleasant life on Spira was now. No Sin. No fiends. No wars between Yevon and Al Bhed, no racism or hatred. Home was rebuilt and Yunie would be visiting our NeoHome for the first time. I was so glad to see my cousin again after so many months. She'd been everywhere since Sin's fall, giving speeches and moral support to all the people of Spira. Finally, she had called upon me expressing her desire to see my dad and me again, and we picked her up in our airship from Bevelle right away.  
  
I was very happy, and yet even then I had no gone a single day without thinking of...him...  
  
"If only you were here to see what prosperity you helped bring our Spira." I whispered. It was so hard thinking of the dire guardian, even months later. I suspected Yunie must feel the same with Tidus, for though we were all grief stricken by his loss, my cousin had taken it the hardest. She had fallen in love with him after all...  
  
As though summoned by my thoughts, Yunie appeared behind me, no doubt sent by my father to haul me off the deck to inside before we landed.  
  
"Rikku, you're father's getting antsy, come inside before he blows." She giggled, and placed a hand on my shoulder.  
  
"Yunie..." I began, lost in my own thoughts and paying no notice to her message, "Do you... still think about him?"  
  
She didn't' have to ask who I was talking about. "Not a day goes by where I don't." She replied. "But we will meet again, somehow, I feel it. It is that belief that keeps me going."  
  
I turned, "Doesn't it hurt to think of him?"  
  
My cousin paused. "...Yes... Sometimes... But I know that he's happy. I know that he wants us to be happy too..." She giggled a little then, "You know Tidus, he always tried to hard to keep everyone's spirits up."  
  
"Yeah..." I responded. I didn't tell her about Auron. I had never told anyone. I didn't' think anyone would really understand, not even Yunie, who was one of the most understanding people I knew to say the least.  
  
"What are you girls doing out there?!" My father boomed, "Get your sorry hides in here!!!"  
  
Yunie laughed, "Coming Uncle Cid!" Then to me, "Come on Rikku." She turned and left.  
  
I paused, taking one last glance at the glowing sunset. However, as I turned to leave, the airship hit some turbulence, and the ship jolted violently. I lost my footing and tumbled backwards--right off the end of the ship.  
  
I watched the ledge of the ship grow more distant, and I realized with unexpressed horror that I was falling to my death. There was nothing to grab onto. There was no one to save me. I was going to die.  
  
Even as this simple truth took hold of my mind, no scream escaped my lips. No tears moistened my eyes. For some reason, I felt calm as the clouds whipped by me. I felt dazed, as though I were in some sort of a bizarre dream.  
  
And then there was a blurred motion of something distinctively red. All around me was an essence of pure strength and assurance. I felt two strong arms wrap around my waist. A scarlet cloth enveloped me, and I felt electrifying warmth spread over my body. I closed my eyes, letting the sensation overtake me.  
  
I was no longer falling. I was... floating? Flying? I didn't know. I didn't care.  
  
I felt one of the arms move upwards, a hand caressing my shoulder. Warm smooth lips brushed against my ear, warm breath sending shivers through my whole being.  
  
"I will always be with you..." A low quiet, but strong voice spoke.  
  
I knew that voice anywhere. I opened my eyes. An overpowering luminous light impaired my vision, and all I could see was the vague, but distinctive features of a man I thought I'd never see again.  
  
"Auron...?" I murmured in a dazed state.  
  
I was facing him now, his face slowly coming into focus. He still wore those opaque shades, though I could still see his bronze eye regarding me calmly over their brim. His grey-streaked ebony hair still wild looking and tousled.  
  
My hand stretched upwards, and I touched his face. In response, he closed his eye, and I felt his gloved hand tighten on my shoulder.  
  
I cursed myself, for tears began to fog my sight, preventing me from clearly seeing the strong, celestial form before me.  
  
"It is you..." I whispered, sheer emotion inhibiting me from using my voice properly. I squeezed my eyes shut in attempt to rid the tears more quickly. I forgot that I had been falling to my doom only moments before. I forgot about Spira and NeoHome. All I could comprehend that the man I thought lost long ago was encompassing me in strong arms. "I'm so glad... you're here... I've never forgotten you... Not once in the eight months since you left me."  
  
My words ended somewhat abruptly as he pressed his lips to mine. I hungrily kissed back, indulging in the gentle and warm touch. Time stopped. I spent an eternity in his embrace. All cares and concerns vanished.  
  
Yet it was all too soon when his lips withdrew from mine. He pressed my head against his chest, and I sobbed, my entire structure trembling with joy.  
  
"I never left you Rikku." He said after a moment. "I never will."  
  
I looked up at him, and although most of his features were unclear in my dream-like state, his intense eye was crystal clear, feelings of love, contentedness and warmth radiating from it.  
  
His mouth once again found mine, and I was claimed by feelings of ecstasy. I began to feel as though we were tilting backwards, until I was lying on my back, him weightlessly atop me.  
  
The bright light began to fade, and his touch faltered. I tried to reach out but I couldn't move. With one lat gentle touch to my face, Auron's form departed, although I could still feel is essence inside of me.  
  
I could still feel it, even as hard cold metal became apparent beneath me. I heard someone calling my name... It was muffled at first, but it became louder and clearer.  
  
"Rikku! RIKKU!"  
  
With a gasp I opened my eyes to see Yuna peering down at me, her face betraying her utter concern and amazement.  
  
"Rikku!?" She shouted again.  
  
I sat up. "Yunie...?"  
  
Relief washed over my cousin's face. "She's alright Uncle Cid!!!" She called.  
  
"Get her inside!!!" Came my fathers voice over the speakers.  
  
"Can you walk? Do you feel okay?" She asked me, gently helping me to my feet.  
  
"I feel fine." I replied, in my usual bright and chipper self. Actually, I felt better than fine. Auron's warmth was still within me, the euphoria I had felt in his embrace still revitalizing my entire being. The best part of it was, I felt that it would always be there.  
  
Yuna sat me down in one of the ship's quarters and shortly after my father came barging in, furious as ever.  
  
"What in-" He went on for a good ten minutes, his cursing getting worse and worse until Yuna begged him to stop.  
  
"Rikku, do you know what happened?" she asked.  
  
I looked at her blankly.  
  
"You fell off the ship!" She exclaimed. "I turned back and you weren't there, I looked over the edge and there you were, falling! I screamed and ran inside to tell Uncle Cid. When I ran back out again, there you were, lying there, as though you'd simply flown back up!" My cousin finished her tale with such amazement, it sounded as though she didn't believe it herself. I smiled.  
  
"What are you grinnin' at?!" My father shouted, "I TOLD you to get yer rear off the deck, you didn't' listen to me! I'm gonna-" Once again, my father went on a tirade that lasted the rest of the trip there. Regardless, I continued to grin and giggle as though I had won a million gil.  
  
Later that night, in NeoHome, Yuna visited me in my room, where I had been confined to until my dad cooled down a little.  
  
"So how do you like it here?" I asked brightly.  
  
Yunie smiled, "It's magnificent."  
  
I giggled.  
  
"Rikku..." She started, sitting on the end of my bed. "What happened out there today?"  
  
"I was saved." I stated, trying in vain to keep a straight face.  
  
"By who?"  
  
"My Guardian."  
  
"Guardian? Only... summoners have guardians...?" My cousin looked thoroughly confused.  
  
"Not THAT kind of guardian." I laughed. I stood up and crossed the room to the window. The night sky was clear and full of stars, the moon casting everything in a beautiful silver light. Giddiness overtook me once again as I continued.  
  
"I'm talking about... my Guardian Angel."  
  
Authors Notes: This ficcy was a result of trying to write an original Aurikku that wasn't depressing. I'm afraid to ask if I succeeded... *laughs* At any rate, please review, and don't flame me please, it hurts my feewings T_T 


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